Get Out The Vote - next time

In the aftermath of the Bush victory there has been lots of discussion about the size of the voter turnout and the relative effectiveness of the Bush campaign's get-out-the-vote organization. One simple fact needs to be focused on: even with a turnout of 116 million in 2004, roughly 97 million potential voters did not show up. Americans are still not involved in the election process.

Here is one concept for the next quadrennial presidential circus:

Lets have a get-out-the-vote campaign that focuses on the secular vote.

Going door-to-door, you could ask a basic diagnostic question. For example, "Do you believe that the Bible is the literal word of God?" If you get a "Yes", then move on to the next door. If you get a "No" response, then point out to the potential voter that the fundamentalists are pushing their religion into schools, government, the Supreme Court, your bedroom, music, TV, and movies, to mention a few of their targets.

With 97 million people not participating in our politics, even at the level of voting, there is plenty of room to develop a significant new base of action.